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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23812948">Home</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WobblyJellyfish/pseuds/WobblyJellyfish'>WobblyJellyfish</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>First Kiss, Four Dorks In Love, Getting Together, Multi, Mutual Pining, Pining</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:08:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,864</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23812948</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WobblyJellyfish/pseuds/WobblyJellyfish</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Pyrrha comes back to the rest of her team after having to go to a ball in Mistral. They all missed each other. A lot.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos/Nora Valkyrie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomLastsForever/gifts">FandomLastsForever</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So the lovely FandomLastsForever sent me the following kiss prompt on tumblr:</p><p>'A hello/goodbye kiss that is given without thinking - where neither person thinks twice about it.'</p><p>I don't know why I went this hard. Yet here we are. But I have never powered through a fic like this before, and I loved this prompt so much. Thank you, Fandom!</p><p>I hope you all enjoy the pining.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was strange, being back in Mistral. While it was nice to see her parents again, Pyrrha still felt a little … hollow, knowing she was only back for yet another event that seemingly <em>required</em> the attendance of Pyrrha Nikos. Being in Vale for the last months had finally allowed her to breathe, to step off the pedestal, for a while. Suddenly being thrust back up that high was disorienting.</p><p> </p><p>It was a long weekend.</p><p> </p><p>Pyrrha had found a quiet spot in the huge hall, the chatter and music humming through the walls. She genuinely enjoyed talking to people, but having people approach her every couple of seconds was draining. And of all the people who had talked with her, none of them had talked with <em>her</em>; just ‘Pyrrha the Champion’. She sighed and leaned back against the wall, before checking her scroll again. Still nothing. While she wasn’t surprised, Pyrrha’s chest still ached.</p><p> </p><p>When she’d received the invitation earlier that week, Pyrrha’s excitement about attending hadn’t lasted long. Sure, she was happy that she’d get to see her parents, but outside of that she didn’t want to leave Beacon. She didn’t want to leave her <em>team</em>. The first people to see and care about <em>her</em>. This is where she belonged, and she didn’t want to leave. Even if it was only for three days.</p><p> </p><p>Her team clearly noticed something was wrong when her face fell reading the invitation, as all of them moved to sit next to her on her bed; Nora practically tackling Pyrrha in a hug so hard her scroll flew out of her hand. Jaune laughed as he caught it, and looked at the screen quizzically as Ren helped Pyrrha untangle herself from Nora, the latter of whom had settled on koala-hugging her from behind. “A charity ball in Mistral?” the blonde asked, handing Pyrrha her scroll back.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah,” she said. “It’s this Saturday. Apparently, they’ve already cleared it with the school so I can have Friday off.”</p><p> </p><p>There was a pause, and Pyrrha felt tension start in her shoulders. Ren noticed it instantly. “You don’t want to go?” he asked.</p><p> </p><p>Pyrrha stared at her lap. “I don’t really have a choice. Mom said she tried to get me out of it, but the ‘Invincible Girl’ just <em>has</em> to be there.” She heard a muffled ‘hmpf’ from Nora behind her.</p><p> </p><p>“And you’re going for the whole weekend?” Jaune asked quietly, as he and Ren leaned into her on both sides in a sort-of, not-quite hug.</p><p> </p><p>“Mom’s booked the airship for Thursday evening so I can spend Friday with her and dad and sleep off jetlag before the ball, and I’m coming back on Sunday. She’s already sent me the tickets.”</p><p> </p><p>There was another grumble behind her, before Nora suddenly jumped off the bed and ran in front of her so fast the movement shook all three of them. “So it’s two days until you go, right?” she asked, a mischievous grin plastered on her face.</p><p> </p><p>Pyrrha quirked an eyebrow. “Yes, why?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, since we’re all done with classes for today, we gotta take you dress shopping!” Pyrrha tried to protest that she already <em>had</em> a dress, that she could just wear the same one as she had done to the Beacon dance just a few weeks ago, but it was clear Nora wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer.</p><p> </p><p>As Pyrrha stood, Jaune looked over at Nora. “Wait, <em>we</em>?” he asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Team bonding exercise!” was all Nora declared, before dragging both him and Ren up off the bed and shuffling the three of them out the door. Pyrrha couldn’t help but giggle as Nora led them in a chain, hand in hand, through Beacon’s grounds and into the City of Vale.</p><p> </p><p>Her heart ached a little more as she looked away from her scroll and down at her dress. When she’d been taken ‘team bonding’, every dress Pyrrha had picked out herself had been rather decidedly axed by her teammates, especially Nora; apparently they were all ‘too similar’ to her other dress. She – and by the looks of it, Jaune and Ren too – had been ready to turn in and try again the following day, when Nora almost threw the dress into her chest and was enthusiastically pushing her towards the changing booth. Before the smaller girl could manage to, Pyrrha broke loose and eyed the fabric in her arms. “Are you sure?” she asked cautiously. “Isn’t it a bit, uh, much?”</p><p> </p><p>“Psh, ’course not!” Nora scoffed. “You’ll look great! Now go put it on!”</p><p> </p><p>It had been an odd feeling, initially, wearing something formal that wasn’t red or bronze, like she was so used to. It was a similar length to her Beacon dance dress, if a little flowy without the slit up the side. The embellished gold swirls that made up the strapless top of her dress matched her circlet nicely, Pyrrha had to admit, and the light, almost cream colour of the long skirt was beautiful too. But it didn’t stop the unease from settling in her stomach.</p><p> </p><p>The worry had twisted further when she had stepped out of the booth and looked at the faces of her teammates, and was met with three pairs of wide eyes. Pyrrha sighed. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” she murmured, and stared at her feet.</p><p> </p><p>Her statement seemed to hang in the air until Jaune all but stammered, “What? No, Pyrrha, no-” He paused a little as he, Nora and Ren stood and moved towards her. “Pyrrha, you look <em>incredible</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>Pyrrha snapped her head up, but Nora interrupted before she could say anything. “See, I told you you’d look great!” she said, practically bouncing with excitement. “You look like one of those warrior princesses from fairy tales. We just need to get you a sword!”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think I can take a sword to a ball, Nora,” Pyrrha giggled, trying to stifle the blush spreading on her face. “But thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>“They’re right, though,” Ren said. Pyrrha felt the heat in her cheeks spread down her neck as he gently took both her hands in his. “You’re beautiful.” Nora then joined to lightly grip her arm, excitedly announcing a majority victory and that Pyrrha <em>had</em> to get the dress now (it was the <em>rules</em>). Pyrrha, who had found any words she’d wanted to say seemed to be stuck in her throat, had simply nodded while smiling harder than she remembered ever having done before. And as she felt the blush still burning under her skin, she swore she could have seen tinges of pink across her teammates faces too. But it must have been her imagination.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing again, Pyrrha lightly thumped her head back against the wall. She wished that they were here with her. Even if they couldn’t dance like they had at Beacon, she and Jaune could still take turns twirling both Ren and Nora around on the dancefloor. And she and Ren would likely have to restrain their leader and bruiser from stealing all of the nibbles being served around and on the side of the hall, even though they’d all make a break for it outside with as much of the cake as possible.</p><p> </p><p>And they’d all be <em>together</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Pyrrha checked her scroll again. She thought she should probably get back to the ball before anyone realised she was missing. Back in Vale, her teammates would likely be spending their afternoon in the dorm, as they usually did over the weekends – Jaune and Nora competing in video games while Ren would be content to curl up somewhere and read. They probably weren’t sending any messages because they figured they’d interrupt her or distract her from the ball.</p><p> </p><p>Pyrrha wished that they would.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>It looked like it was going to be another night with little sleep, Jaune thought, as he rolled over and squeezed his eyes shut again. The past couple of days, the dorm had felt <em>different</em>, and he knew he wasn’t the only one who’d felt it.</p><p> </p><p>Despite Pyrrha’s absence, the three of them had tried to keep to their usual weekend activities as much as normal. Friday had been easier, given that they still had classes to attend and work to do. But today, the ‘off’ feeling that crowded them seemed more obvious. Everything had seemed <em>muted</em>. Their meals had been quieter, and Jaune’s video game battles with Nora, while still fun, had felt more half-hearted than before. Even Ren, who’d usually sit on his bed or at one of the desks to read while they competed, had moved to the floor with them, either sat so Nora could sit between his legs or semi-curled into Jaune’s side. They may have been quieter, but the quietness seemed to have prompted them to gravitate more towards each other; none of them had gone very far without the others.</p><p> </p><p>“Jaune.” A whisper from across the room startled Jaune from his thoughts. He squinted a little to focus across the room, and could make out Ren looking back at him while Nora was pushing her bed across the floor to connect them. “We know you’re awake too,” Ren said softly. “Come on.”</p><p> </p><p>Jaune only hesitated for a second before he slowly eased himself out of bed; Ren simply hummed and lifted the covers as the taller boy flopped down next to him. Nora, having finished pushing the beds together, clambered over Ren and wriggled herself between the two of them, so that her back was against Jaune’s chest and her head was resting on Ren’s collarbone. “It doesn’t feel right,” she mumbled. The <em>without her here</em> was left unsaid, but both of them felt it there.</p><p> </p><p>“It doesn’t,” Jaune agreed, and shifted so his arm looped over Nora and to Ren’s back, pulling the pair of them closer. “It’s been too quiet. Even with you still here.” He winced, only a little, as Nora lightly jabbed his ribs with her elbow, followed by soft laugh from Ren.</p><p> </p><p>It had been difficult that afternoon, to not repeatedly check their scrolls and message Pyrrha. They’d figured, given the time difference, she was likely at the ball by then, and it’d be rude and unfair to keep her distracted for her whole night. No matter how much they’d wanted to.</p><p> </p><p>At least they’d managed to get hold of her on Friday, otherwise everything may have been <em>completely</em> unbearable. They’d found an empty space in Beacon’s courtyard at lunchtime; Jaune had sat under one of the trees with Nora and Ren perched at either shoulder as they video-called Pyrrha, who had landed in Mistral a couple hours prior. All of them had felt the wave of simultaneous <em>relief</em> and <em>joy</em> when she had answered, sat on her bed and smiling brightly. But before any of them could even get out a ‘hello’, Pyrrha had tilted her head to one side, looking equal parts concerned and confused. “Is everything alright, Nora?” she asked gently, prompting Jaune and Ren to look over to the shorter girl on their right. Nora had seemingly frozen in place, her turquoise eyes wide and a soft pink tinge spreading across her face.</p><p> </p><p>When she had noticed them all looking at her, she immediately straightened up and the blush darkened. “Yeah! I’m fine, I’m great!” Nora sputtered. She took a breath. “It’s just, uh. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your hair down before?”</p><p> </p><p>Pyrrha blinked, then laughed lightly. “It’s comfier to leave it like this instead of tying it,” she said. “I can deal with whatever happens with it when I wake up.” As if on cue, she’d yawned loudly, rubbing one of her eyes with the palm of her hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be resting?” Ren asked, leaning a little more over Jaune’s shoulder. “You did have a long journey.”</p><p> </p><p>“No no, it’s fine!” Pyrrha insisted. “It’s not like I have to be anywhere tomorrow until the evening. Besides,” she fought off another yawn, “I’d much rather talk to you all while I have the chance.” Jaune’s chest had swelled at that, and on either side of him Ren had a content smile as he somehow huddled in further, and Nora had fallen into a fit of flustered giggles; all of them now blushing furiously. Jaune had been sure that Pyrrha was blushing too as she hid a little behind her hair, but neither he or his teammates said anything. It must have been the lighting in her room or something.</p><p> </p><p>They quickly got to talking about Pyrrha’s journey, how it was being back in Mistral for the first time since attending Beacon. Pyrrha, despite her exhaustion, recounted her trip; she lamented that for the most part it had been <em>dull</em>, stuck on an airship for ten hours with little to do but look out of the window. But apparently the sunrise over the east coast of Sanus had been beautiful, and had laughed when Nora demanded photos. In turn, Pyrrha’s teammates had recounted what had happened in their classes that morning, most notably watching Blake completely trounce Cardin in Professor Goodwitch’s class. And as they talked and laughed, for a moment it felt like Pyrrha was <em>there</em> with them.</p><p> </p><p>If only she had been.</p><p> </p><p>Eventually, they began to notice other students heading back towards the school, and figured that their lunch break was almost over. “I’m sorry, we’ve gotta go,” Jaune said quietly, as he, Ren and Nora all stood up. “I wish we could have talked for longer.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay,” Pyrrha said, smiling again but this time smaller and not as bright. “I probably wouldn’t have been able to stay up too much longer anyway, even without this jetlag.” She giggled softly at Nora’s muttered remark of time zones being weird and unfair. Then Pyrrha’s tone sounded sadder. “I don’t think I’ll be able to talk tomorrow though. Between resting and getting ready and actually going to this ball, I don’t know if our times will line up well enough. I’m sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>There was a pause before Ren piped up. “It’s alright, Pyrrha, really,” he said. “Just rest well, and we’ll see you on Sunday.”</p><p> </p><p>“And send us pictures from tomorrow!” Nora added excitedly.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course.” Pyrrha looked as if she were going to continue, but was stifled by another yawn.</p><p> </p><p>Jaune giggled. “And make sure you sleep plenty, okay? Leader’s orders.” Pyrrha had laughed and given a little salute, before waving goodbye. Her teammates did the same, and when she hung up, the three of them slowly made their way back to the school. <em>We miss you</em> had lingered in their throats.</p><p> </p><p>The three of them shifted on the bed so that Jaune wasn’t balancing on the edge, and Ren reached over to pull both his and Nora’s sheets to cover them all properly. Jaune put his arm around them both again, this time Ren doing the same while Nora snuggled in a little more between them. “Do you,” she whispered. “Do you think she misses us as much as we miss her?”</p><p> </p><p>Jaune’s arm around them tightened ever so slightly. “Of course,” he murmured, as Ren nodded in agreement and rested his chin in Nora’s hair. “Of course she does. And she’ll be so excited when we go to surprise her at the airport tomorrow.” He looked over at the clock on the desk. “Today.”</p><p> </p><p>“And we can keep all our beds like this?”</p><p> </p><p>“Definitely.” Being wrapped up together like this was so much better than last night, where they’d all tossed and turned in their own beds, unable to sleep and could practically feel the distance between them. At least now, together, they almost felt complete. Almost.</p><p> </p><p>“We should try and sleep,” Ren said softly. “It wouldn’t be good if we’re all exhausted when Pyrrha comes back.” Jaune and Nora both made quiet hums of agreement, and all twined their fingers together, hands resting near to Nora’s hip.</p><p> </p><p>They’d be whole again soon.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>The hours had gone by so slowly it had been almost <em>painful</em>. Despite the situation the previous night being better, none of them had slept particularly well. They’d received a message from Pyrrha that morning, just before five, that she was on the airship back to Vale and should be landing in the evening. But when the three of them had eventually gotten up a few hours later, the room had felt brighter. Less heavy.</p><p> </p><p>There hadn’t been much to do other than wait. Ren passed some of the time copying his class notes out for Pyrrha, sat across on their makeshift double bed from Jaune and Nora animatedly competing in some kind of game on their scrolls. They hadn’t pushed the other two beds in yet, deciding it would be better to wait until tonight when they’d all be there.</p><p> </p><p>Nora was buzzing with excitement when they finally headed towards the airport, frequently skipping ahead of Jaune and Ren, who simply told her to slow down. And while they weren’t showing it, the same feeling was flittering around in their chests, quelled only when their fingers would brush together as they walked, and when the airport finally came into view and Nora grabbed both their hands and dragged them down the street as fast as she could.</p><p> </p><p>Even though it was the city’s only commercial airport, it wasn’t particularly big. The light from the sunset shone in through the huge glass panel windows, bathing the arrivals area of the terminal in soft, orange warmth. The three of them had managed to find an empty bench with a mostly-clear view of the arrivals gate; Jaune sat with Ren at his side, the latter resting his cheek against Jaune’s collarbone. Nora had abandoned the bench after not even a minute, instead pacing back and forth and occasionally jumping to see over any crowds that passed in front of them. “Nora, you can sit down,” Ren said. “You pacing isn’t going to make Pyrrha arrive any quicker.”</p><p> </p><p>Nora stuck her tongue out at him and Jaune chuckled. “But what if she can’t see us from here?” she insisted.</p><p> </p><p>“Her flight hasn’t come through arrivals yet,” Jaune pointed out and Nora wandered over to sit next to Ren. “When the next group comes through, then we can go.” He chuckled again as she pouted at him with a mutter of “fine”.</p><p> </p><p>The announcement for the City of Mistral’s airship arrival came through not even ten minutes later, and all of them were up like a shot. To save her having to jump again, Jaune let her piggyback, with Ren lightly gripping his hand, given that Nora was strong enough to keep herself up on her own. As the passengers from the airship began to filter through, both boys had to stop Nora from wriggling too much as she strained and scanned everyone, hoping to see one in a flood of faces. To see … a flash of red. “There she is!” Nora squealed, abruptly hopping down off Jaune’s back.</p><p> </p><p>And she must have been loud, since Pyrrha’s head snapped up from where she’d been staring at the ground, vision flashing across every face in front of her.</p><p> </p><p>Green eyes met turquoise, pink and blue.</p><p> </p><p>Pyrrha smiled so wide it <em>hurt</em>, and felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes; her pace picked up from trudging to a run, weaving and apologising to everyone in the crowd she passed.</p><p> </p><p><em>She had missed them so much</em>.</p><p> </p><p>The three of them mirrored her run, Nora taking off immediately - though with much less consideration for the crowds around her - and barely stopped to balance herself at all as she launched into a hug as soon as the taller girl was close enough. Pyrrha, of course, caught her with ease, letting Nora hug her with her both arms around her shoulders and her feet just barely touching the ground. And neither of them even <em>blinked</em>, as they both leaned in at the same time, as if they had done a thousand times before. A soft, gentle press of their lips together, and Pyrrha let her hand slip into Nora’s hair, just for a second, before Nora pulled away and buried her head in Pyrrha’s chest, hugging her tighter. Pyrrha responded in kind, and looked up to see Jaune and Ren had caught up. She lifted one arm from Nora’s back, a wordless invitation for both of them to join, and as they did and Nora made room, she did the same as she had just done with Jaune, then Ren. None of them had felt this light before. And none of them said a word, because it was just <em>right</em>.</p><p> </p><p>As Pyrrha and Ren pulled away from each other (with a contented sigh, but whether it came from one or the other or both, none of them knew or cared), she hugged them all again tighter. “Hello again,” Pyrrha said softly. They all laughed, letting the familiarity flow warmly through them, and dropped their arms from the hug. “We should probably get out of the way of everyone else trying to leave.” A murmur of agreement, and, as Pyrrha readjusted her bag, they made to leave the airport, fingers intertwined together, just as they had done earlier that week, with no intention of ever letting go.</p><p> </p><p>They agreed a quiet evening in the dorm would be best. They all sat together, legs tangled together like ivy vines, as they feasted on pancakes Ren had made and eagerly caught up with everything they’d missed the past three days, and Pyrrha showing them more pictures she’d taken on her journey back. Although it had seemed Nora was more preoccupied with playing with Pyrrha’s hair, apparently still transfixed by it flowing down over her shoulders like a cherry waterfall, though, once syrup was no longer an issue, Ren and Jaune couldn’t help but run their fingers through it too. Not that Pyrrha minded. Maybe she should keep it down more often.</p><p> </p><p>All exhausted and electing to clean up tomorrow, Pyrrha and Jaune pushed their beds over to double the one that had been made the previous night, and all four of them cuddled up together, snug and happy and <em>together</em>. It was less ‘spoons’ as it had been with three of them last night and more of a puppy pile, all twined together. “I think we might need to invest in one huge blanket,” Jaune whispered, pressing a kiss into Ren’s hair and reached over for Nora’s and Pyrrha’s hands to press kisses to their knuckles.</p><p> </p><p>Nora giggled and look up at Pyrrha. “You know you’re never allowed to leave again, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Like I would want to,” Pyrrha said, an amused lilt in her tone. Why would she ever want to leave this, leave her teammates – no, not teammates; the word was too small, they’d <em>always</em> been more than that – again? “If I ever have to go away to some event again, I’m making sure you’re all coming with me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good,” Nora mumbled with a yawn, and, almost catlike, snuggled her head more into the pile.</p><p> </p><p>Just as she felt sleep crawling over them, Pyrrha heard Ren speak up, hardly more than a whisper. “Welcome home.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Any and all comments and kudos are deeply appreciated!! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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